Control of apparatus governing the passage of cars along railways.



3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905.

RAILWAYS.

H. W. GRIFFIN.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 1,1905.

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CONTROL OF APPARATUS GOVBRNING THE PASSAGE 0F GARS ALONG PATENTED SEPT.5, 1905.

RAILWAYS.

3 SHEETS-sgml' z.

H. W. GRIFFIN.

APPLIGATION FILED APB.1,1905.

CONTROL OI APPARATUS GOVERNING THE PASSAGE OF CARS ALONG No. 798,784.PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905. H. W. GRIFFIN.

CONTROL OF APPARATUS GOVERNING THE PASSAGE 0F GARS ALONG RAILWAYS.

PP T N 5. LIGA I0 FILED APB. 1,190 SSEBETSnSHBBT a.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY WV. GRIFFIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.. ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SVITCH ANDSIGNAL COMPANY, OF SW'ISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROL OF APPARATUS GOVERNING THE PASSAGE OF CARS ALONG RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'atentee Sept. 5, 1905.

Application filed April l, 1905. Serial No. 253.307.

To /LZZ whom it #hay concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WV. GRIFFIN, a citizen oi' the United States,residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Controlot' Apparatus Governing the Passage of Cars Along a Railway, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates generally t0 improvements in the control ofautomatically-acting train-stops, and more particularly to suchautomatically-acting train-stops as are used in conjunction with asignal system and which govern the movement of cars by controlling' thebrake or power systems, or both, otl such cars while traveling along arailway.

An object of my invention is to provide means whereby a train which hasstopped in obedience to a danger-signal may at once proceed at a veryslow speed past the said signal without waiting for the signal to becleared, and by such movement at a slow speed to cause the automaticstop, which Works in conjunction with said signal, to move to itsinoperative position, but to make it impossible for a train to proceedpast a danger-signal at anything exceeding a very slow speed. Thus on arailway where the system embodied in my invention is employed trainswill not be subjected to the prolonged delays which are caused underexisting conditions, in which a train having once been stopped inobedience to a danger-signal is obliged to wait until the automaticstop, which works in conjunction with said signal, is moved to itsinoperative position by the movement of a preceding train out of thesecond succeeding block.

The automatically-acting stop to the control of which my inventionrelates consists, generally speaking', of a trip or lever placedadjacent the railway-track and an electricallycontrolled motor adaptedto move said trip into such a position that it will not engage with anypart of a passing car. This position of the trip I will call itsinoperative position. lVhen the electrical controlling force iswithdrawn from the aforesaid motor, the trip will move under theintluence of gravity or a spring or other suitable force into a positionwhich I will call the operative position, and when in the said operativeposition it will engage with an arm or lever provided for the purposeand carried by a passing car, and such engagement will cause the brakesof the said car or of the whole train, ot' which the car forms a part,to be applied, or it will act to cut ott' the supply of motive powerfrom the said passing car or cars, or in any other suitable manner willcause the train to come to rest.

On a railway system where automaticallyacting train-stops are used it iscustomary to vequip one or more ears oi' a train with one or moredepending arms adapted to engage, as above described, with a trip whenthe said trip is in its operative position and the train or any car ofit is passingI the trip. As it is the primary function of a train-sto pto prevent a train from passing a signal when said signal is in thedanger position, and, further, as it is usual to so design and arrangean automatic signal that it will assume the danger position as soon asthe irst few cars of a train have passed it, it follows that in the caseof a long train passingan automatic clear signal the said signal wouldmoveto the danger position before the whole train had passed it, and ifthe movement of the trip to its operative position were synchronous withthe movement of the signal to the danger position and the trip wereplaced in proximity to the signal the trip would engage with one of thearms carried by one ot' the cars of the train, and the train wouldthereby be stopped.

By the arrangement ot' circuits embodying' my invention I provide meansfor preventing the movement of a trip to its operative position while atrain is passing it if the said train is passing it under the authorityof a clear signal; and, further, I provide means whereby a train whichhas stopped in obedience to a danger-signal may at once proceed pastthat signal provided it does so at a low rate of speed or under control,thereby not endangering a preceding train which may be in theblock-section governed by said signal, but without causing an unduedelay to the train which is passing' the signal.

In order to describe the arrangement and operation of the circuitsembodying my invention, I will referto the live diagrammatic viewsFigures I, 2, 3, 4, and 5,.whieh aecompany this specilication. Figs. l,2, and 3 IOO show an arrangement of my circuits which is adapted for useon either' steam or electric railways and Figs. 4 and 5 show anotherarrangement which is intended for use on elec'- tric railways, in whichone or both track-rails are used as a return for the propulsion-current.

In each of the accompanying figures a portion of railway-track is shownwhich is divided into sections BC GD, Sac., in the wellknown manner bymeans of Ainsulations 1 1LV 1b, &c. Both track-rails or only onetrackrail may be so divided. I have shown only one rail divided intosections. In Figs. 4 and 5 provision may be made for using one or bothof the track-rails as a return for the propulsion-current used for themotor-cars traveling along the railway. There may be any number of theabove-mentioned sections and they may be of any length. I shall call thesaid sections block sections or simply blocks The direction of traflicalong the track is from B to D. v

The entry of trains to each block-section is governed by a signal 2 2u2", &c., which may be of any suitable ty pe. The operation of thesignals in the present case is automatic and is controlled by thepassage of a car or cars along the railway, by means of track-circuits,in a manner well known to the art. Each block-section is provided with atrack-circuit, which comprises a battery or other suitable source ofcurrent supply connected to the rails at one end of the block and arelay device connected to the rails at the other end of the block, thesaid relay being supplied with current from the said source along thetrackrails of the block-section. In Figs. 1,. 2, and 3 I have shown thesource of current-supply for the block-sections in the form of a battery3 3 3b, &c., supplying direct current, and the relay 4 4a 4b, &c., is ofa type adapted to respond in the movement of its armature to thepresence or absence of current in its coils, the coils being connectedto the rails and deriving their current from the battery, as abovedescribed. In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown the source of current-supply inthe form of transformers, the primary coils of which are connected tomain conductors leading from the power-house or main source ofcurrent-supply, and the secondary coils of said transformers areconnected to the track-rails of the block-sections to which theyrespectively belong. I have given these transformers the samedesignating characters as the track-batteries 3 3a 3b, as they performthe same functions, although in the case of the batteries in Figs. 1, 2,and 3 direct current issupplied to the track-relay and in Figs. 4 and 5alternating current is supplied to the relays 4 4a 4h, which are adaptedto respond to the presence or absence of the said alternating currentintheir coils. Itis to be understood that the kind of current used inthe track-circuits does not affect the operation of my invention so longas the trackrelays respond in the desired manner to the presence orabsence of current in their coils, and, further, that I do not limitmyself t0 any specific kind of source for the said current. Each relayis provided with an armature carrying two contact-fingers 5 and 6, 52Land 6i, 5h and 6b, &c., and when the relay is energized, owing to thepresence of current in its coils, thel armature is attracted and contactmade at the points e and f e' and f', &c. When the contacts e e e2,Sac., are made, a local circuit is closed in the wellknown mannerthrough the operating mechanism of the signal, and the signal is therebymoved to the clear position. This local circuit may be traced asfollows: Starting from one pole of generator G the current flows alongmain conductor P, through wire 7, controlling mechanism of signal, wire8, contact e, contact-inger 5, through line-wire 9 to contact f on relayof succeeding block-section, thence to main return-conductor R, andthence to the other pole of generator G, from whence it started. Thegenerator G may be replaced by a battery or other suitable source ofelectrical energy or, if preferred, a separate local battery or othersource of electrical energy may be used at each station B C D, &c. I donot limit myself to the above or any specilic arrangement of localcircuits for controlling the movements of the signals.

11 11a 11b, &c.,designate train-stops which are controlled by thecircuits embodying my invention. One of these train-stops is locatednear the entrance end of each block-section, and the location of anytrain-stop relatively to the entrance end of its block-section may bedetermined by the speed at which it is desired that a train shall enterthe said section against the indication of a danger-signal.

By the term depending arm I mean any arm, lever, or equivalent memberthat is carried bya car and is adapted to engage with a trip whenpassing the same, and thereby to apply the brakes or otherwise stop thecar or the train of which said car forms a part. Each stop is providedwith a trip 12 12 12b, &c., which when in its operative position, asshown at B, Fig. 2, will engage with the depending arm of any passingcar, and thereby stop the car, as already explained. When a trip is inits inoperative position, as at B, C, and D, Fig. 1, it will not engagewith any depending arm.' The movement of any trip 12 to the inoperativeposition is effected by its motor 11 when the said motor is energized bycurrent flowing through the circuits embodied in my invention, and itsmovement to the operative position is effected by gravity or a spring orany other suitable force which acts constantly in opposition to theforce of the motor. The said movement of the trip to itsv operativeposition takes place assoon as and whenever its motor is denergized-` I`do not IOS ISO

limit myself to the use of any specific type of train-stop so long as itis capable of being controlled electrically.

Each trip in my invention is controlled as to its inoperative positionby two circuits, and when both or either of the said circuits are closedthe trip will thereby be moved to and held in its inoperative position;but if both of these circuits should be open at the same time the tripwill be moved by gravity or other applied force into its operativeposition. Consequently' in order that a car or cars may pass any tripwithout being stopped thereby it is necessary that at least one of thetwo circuits aforesaid should be closed. These two circuits l will call,respectively, the primary and the secondary circuit. The primary circuitof any stop is normally depended upon to keep said stop energized, andthereby to keep its trip in the inoperative position. The secondarycircuit I employ to energize its stop when the trip is in its operativeposition (owing to the presence of a train in the succeeding block, as Iwill presently show) and it is Vdesired to allow a second train to passthe said trip at a very low rate of speed. The primary circuit may betraced as follows: starting from one pole of generator G through mainconductor P, wire 15, controlling mechanism of stop 11, wires 14, 13,and 9 to contact f on contactfinger 6 of track-relay at the succeedingsignal, and wire back to main conductor R,

and thence to the other pole of the generator' (if, from whence itstarted. lt will be seen that this `so-ealled primary circuit will holdany trip in its operative position so long as the track-relay 4 4",Sac., ofthe succeeding block-section remains energized-that is to say,so long as the said succeeding block is not occupied by any car or cars.

The secondary circuit in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 may be traced thus: fromgenerator Gr along' P, wire 15, stop 11, wire 14, contact y, contact-timger 6, wire 1t), and conductor R back to generator, and in Figs. 4 and 5the secondary circuit flows as follows: from generator G along' P, wire15, stop 11, wires 14, 13, and 17, contact /i when closed,contact-finger 18, wire 16, conductor R to generator. It will be seenthat the above-mentioned contact /L form's part of or is attached to thearmature of a relay 2.1, being' closed when the said relay 21 isenergized and opened when the relay is dcngized. This relay has one poleconnected by the wire to a short length of rail 19, and its other poleis connected by the wire 22 to the return-rail T of the electricrailway. The ordinary contact-shoes which are always carried on bothsides of electric motor-cars are made use of in my invention to conveycurrent 'from the third or power rail S to the short rail 19, andthereby through wires 2() and 22 and the return-rail T to energize therelay 21 under certain conditions, which l will hereinafter moreparticularly describe.

l will now proceed to describe the manner in which the automatic stopsare controlled by means of the circuits and apparatus embodied in myinvention, and for this purpose I will first referto Figs. 1, 2, and 3,which, as above stated, show circuits and apparatus which may be appliedto either steam or electric railways.

Referring iirst to Fig. 1, l there show two complete block-sections BCCl), also the exit end of block AB and thc entrance end of block DE.Block Ul) is clear of trains and the track-relay 4 is thereforeenergized by current which flows from the source 3b through thetrack-rails and thence through the coils of the relay 4, therebyattracting its armature and making' contact at if between contact-linger5 and wire 8, and also the contact f' between 6 and wire 9. Block DE isalso clear of trains and the relay 4" is in like manner energized,thereby closing the contacts at c and f2. Current now flows fromgenerator G through conductor l), wire 7, controlling mechanism ofsignal 2, wire 8, contacte', contact-tinger 5, line-wire 9, contactfi,contactinger 6", wire 10", and return-conductor R back to generator (,1.This is the controllingcircuit of signal 2, and when the said circuit isclosed, as shown, the signal is thereby moved to its clear position. Bythe closing of contact another circuit is made which may be traced asfollows: 'from generator Gr through conductor l), wire 15, stop 11,wires 14913 9, contact f2, linger 6l. wire 10", conductor R, back togenerator G. This is the primary circuit of stop 11", and so long asthis circuit is closed, as shown, at the point the stop 11 will beenergized and the trip 12 thereby held in its inoperative position. Itwill be seen that, as above stated, the energization of the stop 11il byits primary circuit depends on the closing of the contactf and that thiscontact is closed when and as long as the block-section DE is clear ofcars. 1n like manner the stop 11 at B is energized and the trip 12thereby held in its inoperative position so long as the block Cl) isfree of cars, and the relay 4" thereby energized and the contact fconsequently held closed. At F, 1 have shown a car or train of one ormore cars which has entered the block BU and is now traversing same. Assoon as the train F began to enter the block BU the source 3 of electricpower was shortcil'cuited in the well-known usual manner and the currentfrom said-source then began to flow through the low resistance of thewheels and axles of the train instead of through the higher resistanceof the relay 4, and the said relay was thereby denergized and thecontacts at x and f thereby opened, as shown. The opening ofB thecontact e breaks the con- IOO IIO

trolling-circuit of the signal 2, and thereby causes it to assume thedanger position, as shown. The primary controlling-circuit, however, ofthe stop 11 is intact, as it is only possible to break this circuit atthe contact-point f, and that contact-point is held closed by the relay4a so long as the block CD is clear of cars. Consequently the trip 12 isheld in its inoperative position vby the stop 11 while the train F ispassing it, and the said trip 12 will not move to its operative positionuntil the train F or the first part of said train passes onto the blockCD, thereby denergizing the relay 4 and opening the primary circuit ofstop 11 at the contact-pointf.

Referring now to Fig. 2, I there show the train F as having passed ontoblock GD, and thereby deenergized relay 4a and opened the contacts e andf. By the opening of contact e' the controlling-circuit of signal 2n isbroken and the signal thereby caused to move to its danger position, asshown. By the opening of contact f the controlling-circuit of signal 2is broken and that signal thereby maintained in the danger positionwhich it had assumed when the train F entered block BC. The contact f',however, besides forming a part of the controlling-circuit of signal 2,also forms part of the primary circuit of stop 11, as already described,and the opening of contact f', therefore, has the effect of denergizingthe stop 11 and of thereby allowing the trip 12 to assume its operativeposition. Suppose now a second train H to be following F and that H isnow approaching the signal 2. The engineer of train H, seeing the signal2 in the danger position, should at once stop his train in the rear ofsignal 2 and refrain from entering block BC until the signal 2 againmoves to the clear position. Suppose, however, that for any reason theengineer ydisregards the danger indication of signal 2 or that he losesproper control of his train and passes the signal 2 at a speed whichprecludes his stopping the train quickly. Then under those conditionsthe trip 12, which is now in its operative position, will engage withthe {irst depending arm carried by the leading car of the said train,and by such engagement the brakes will be applied or in some othersuitable manner the train will be stopped. As hereinbefore explained,the trip 12 will not move to its inoperative position again until thetrain passes off the block CD, and thereby allows the relay 4 to becomeenergized and the contact f' to be closed. It will thus be seen that thetrip 12 affords adequate protection to a train F from another trainfollowing it too closely. It may be, however, that the trafhc conditionsupon a railway so equipped with automatic stops are such that too greata delay would be caused by holding the train H on block AB until train Fhad passed out of block CD, and it may be desired to allow the train Hto enter block BC at a low rate of speed or under control after havingstopped a few seconds at signal 2 and to advance with caution to signal2'. This desired end I accomplish by means of my secondary circuit, as Iwill now sho'w.

Referring to Fig. 3, we will suppose that the train H, having stopped atthe signal 2, is now proceeding past said signal at a low rate of speedor under control. As soon as the leading wheels of the train enter theblocksection BC the relay 4 will-be denergized and the contact-linger 6will drop, thereby breaking the contact f and closing the contact g. Theclosing of this contact g completes the secondary circuit through thestop 11, thereby energizing the said stop andmoving the trip 12 into itsinoperative position, so that it will not engage with any depending armof the train H. The said secondary circuit may be traced as follows:from generator Gr, through main conductor P, wire 15, stop 11, -wire 14,contact g, contact-finger 6, wire 10, and return-conductor R back togenerator G. The stop 11, with its trip 12, is so located that a trainentering the block B0 at a rate not exceeding a certain predeterminedslow speed will denergize the relay 4, and thereby make the secondarycircuit by the closing of contact g, and so move trip 124 to itsinoperative position before the foremost depending arm that is carriedby the leading car of the train has time to engage the said trip. On theother hand, if the train should enter the block without regard to thesignal the trip will engage and stop the train before the secondarycircuit has had time to act and move the trip to its inoperativeposition. The above remarks apply equally to the trips 12a 12b, &c.

In Figs 4 and 5 I show an application of the principles embodied `in myinvention to the case of an electric railway equipped with automaticstops. As in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, two complete block-sections BC and CDare shown with the signals 2 2, respectively, controlled by them, andthe automatic stops 11 11u similarly located to and performing the samefunction as the like automatic stops 11 11a in Figs. l, 2, and 3. Sdesignates the third or power rail through which the current iiows,which is used for the propulsionof cars traveling along the railway, and19 19a 19", as hereinbefore stated, is a short length of rail placedadjacent the track-rails and on the side remote from the third rail andis adapted to receive current from the third rail when any car equippedwith contact-shoes on both sides is passing the said rail 19, 19, or19h. To illustrate the operation of the circuits embodied in this partof my invention, suppose a car, or train of cars, to be in the block BC.The relay 4 is thereby denergized and the signal 2 moved to the dangerposition through the opening of contact e. The block CD, how'- ever, isclear of cars, and consequently the relay 4a is energized and thecontacts e and f IOC ISO

are thereby held closed. flows from generator G, through main conductorP. wire 15, stop 11, wires 14, 13, and 9. contact-finger 6, contact f',wire 10, wire 16, and return-conductor R to generator. The currentflowing through this closed circuit energizes the stop 11, and therebyholds the trip 12 in its inoperative position. This is the primarycircuit of the stop l1, and it will be seen that it is similar to theprimary circuits of Figs. 1, 2, and 3. In order to show the operation ofthe secondary circuit, I will refer to Fig. 5, in which I have shown thetrain F as having passed into the section DE, and thereby denergized therelay and opened the contacts at e2 and f2. The opening of the contactj'2 caused the signal 2 to remain in the danger position which itassumed when the train F entered the block CD. It also broke the primarycircuit of the stop 11, thereby causing the trip 12 to assume itsoperative position, and when in the said operative position the saidtrip would act to stop any following train H which might have passed thesignal 2 at a speed greater than the predetermined desired speed. l/Vewill suppose,however,that the train H stopped at the signal 2 and thenproceeded at a low rate of speed or under control. Then under suchconditions the secondary circuit of stop 11l would be closed, asfollows: As soon as the leading contact-shoe 24 on the lirst car of thetrain makes contact with the short rail 19 current flows from the thirdrail S through contact-shoes 23 and 24, which are electricallyconnected, rail 19, wire 20, relay 21, wire 22, back to return-rail T ofthe railway-track, thus energizing the coils of relay 21 and makingcontact at it between 18 and wire 17a. The closing of this contact Itestablishes the secondary circuit of stop 11, and current now iowsthrough this circuit, starting from generator G, through P, wire 15,stop l1, wires 14: 13" 17, contact-finger 18, wire 16, conductor R backto generator G. The closing of this secondary circuit energizes stop 11,and thereby holds trip 12 in its inoperative position, and as long aselectrical connection continues to be made between the third rail S andthe rail 19 through any pair of contact-shoes of a passing car or carsthe above-described secondary circuit will remain closed and the trip 12thereby be held clear of engagement with the said passingcar or cars. Imake the rail 19 of sufficient length to insure any contact-shoe on thatside of a car or train of cars making' Contact with the said rail beforethe preceding contact-shoe on the same car or train shall have ceased tomake contact, so that the relay 21 is continuously energized so long asany car which carries contact-shoes is passing it, and consequently thetrain H is enabled to enter the block CD and automatically hold the trip12 in the inoperative position,provided that the said train Current,therefore,

enters the block at a speed not exceeding that for which the apparatusis arranged. If, however, the train should enter the block ata speedwhich would preclude its beingstopped quickly. the trip will not havetime to assume its inoperative position and the train will consequentlvbe stopped` It will of course be understood that there must of necessitybe a certain amount of electrical inertiain the coils of relay 21 21,Sac., and in the coils of the stop 11 11, etc., also a certain amount ofmechanical inertia in the moving parts of the relay and the trip.Consequently the trip cannot move instantaneously to its inoperativeposition under the iniuence of the secondary circuit, and thus it ispossible to arrange the relation between the locations of the trip 11and the insulation 1",on the one hand, andthe relative positions of theleading wheels and the leading' depending' arm of a car, on the otherhand, in such a manner as to produce the desired results.

In the foregoing description I have shown the primary and secondarycircuits, which control the stops, as being opened and closed bycontact-fingers operated by relays. I do not limit myself, however, tothis construction, but, if desired, can employ circuit-controllersactuated by some moving' part of the signals themselves or of the signalmechanisms to perform the same functions as I have described as beingperformed by the relaycontacts aforesaid. Furthermore, I do not limitmyself to supplying current for the control of the stops from a commonsource, but, on the contrary, I have no objection to the use of aseparate local battery for each signal and the stop adjacent thereto ora separate battery for` each signal and each stop, if so desired, thoughI prefer to use the common source, as shown.

That I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination with a series ofblockseetions of a railway, of an automatically-acting' train-stopcomprising a trip for each blocksection, and two circuits for eachtrain-stop either of which when closed prevents the trip from being'moved to its operative position, one of said circuits being opened bythe passage of a train into a block-section succeeding that for whichthe stop is provided and the other of said circuits being closed by theentry of a train into the block for which the stop is provided.

2. The combination with a series of blocksections of a railway, of anautomatically-acting' train-stop comprising' a tri p foreachblocksection, and two circuits for each train-stop either of which whenclosed prevents the trip from being' moved to its operative position,one of said circuits being opened by the passage of a train into ablock-section succeeding that for which the stop is provided and being'closed by the passage of the said train out of the said succeedingblock-section, the other IOO IOS

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of said circuits being closed by the entry of a train into theblock-section for which the Stop is provided and beingvopened by thepassage of the said train out of the said blocksection. 4

3. The combination with a series of blocksections of a railway, of anautomatically-acting train-stop comprising a trip for each blocksection,two circuits for each train-stop either of which when closed preventsthe trip from being moved to its operative position, one of saidcircuits being opened by the passage of a train into a block-sectionsucceeding that for which the stop is provided and the other of saidcircuits being closed by the entry of a train into the block for whichthe stop is provided, and a source of current-supply for the saidcircuits. i

4. The combination with a series of blocksections ofa railway, of anautomatically-acting train-stop comprising a trip for each blocksection,and two circuits for each train-stop either of which when closedprevents the trip from being moved to its operative position, one ofsaid circuits being opened by the passage of a train into ablock-section succeeding that for which the stop is provided and beingclosed by the passage of the said train out of the said succeedingblock-section, the other of said circuits being closed by the entry of atrain into the block-section for which the stop is provided and beingopened by the passage of the said train out of the said blocksection,the aforesaid automatically acting train-stop being so locatedrelatively to the entrance end of the block-section for which it isprovided that a car moving swiftly past the train-stop will be stoppedby engagement with the trip before the trip has time to move to itsinoperative position, and a car moving slowly past the said train-stopwill cause the relay to be energized and the trip thereby to move to itsinoperative position before the car has time to engage with said trip.

5. The combination with an automaticallyacting train-stop comprising atrip and located at a point along an electric railway, of a third orpower rail conveying electric energy for the propulsion of cars upon therailway, a section of rail adjacent the railway, conductors carried bythe cars and means of conveying current through said conductors from thethird rail to the section of rail, a relay device adapted to beenergized by said current, two

circuits either of-which when closed prevents the trip from beingmovedto its operative position, one of said circuits being opened by thepassage of a train into a block-section succeed- 6. The combination withan automaticallyacting train-stop comprising a trip and located at apoint along an electric railway, of a third or power rail conveyingelectric energy for the propulsion of cars upon the railway, a sectionof rail adjacent the railway, conductors carried by the cars and meansof conveying current through said conductors from the third rail to thesection of rail, a relay device adapted to be energized by said current,and a circuit which when closed will move the trip from its operative toits inoperative position, and will hold the trip in the said inoperativeposition. 4

7. The combination with an automaticallyacting train-stop comprising atrip and located at a point along an electric railway, of a third orpower rail conveying electric energy for the propulsion of cars upon therailway, a section of rail adjacent the railway, conductors carried bythe cars and means of conveying current through said conductors from thethird rail to the section of rail, a relay device adapted to beenergized by said current, a circuit closed through the energization ofsaid relay, the said circuit when closed acting to move the trip fromits operative to its inoperative position, the aforesaid section of railbeing so located relatively to the trip that a car moving swiftly pastthe automaticallyacting train-stop will be stopped by engagement withthe trip before the trip has time to move to its inoperative position,and a car moving slowly past the said train-stop will cause the relay tobe energized and the trip thereby to move to its inoperative positionbefore the car has time to engage with said trip.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribed witnesses.

HENRY w. GRIFFiN.

/Vitnesses:

J. A. RENNIE, A. HERMAN WEGNER.

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